RE: The Science of ADDICTION - And Why We Might Be Treating It In A Totally Wrong Way
I've been clean for 35 years come march, and I got clean with a lot of Vietnam Vets who came home hooked on morphine. I saw this rat test years ago and have not seen the programs based on it work any better or worse than traditional programs, saying that as a person who worked in the field for 9 years, and volunteers even still.
It's also true that many of the cocaine addicts back then were happy, healthy , wealthy, college graduates. I think you have to look at both parts. Some people are naturally receptor deficiency resistant, some are born naturally deficient, some become deficient and can repair or replace with social improvements, some become deficient and never recover.
In my experience, successful recovery addresses the changes in the brain, while improving the social conditions, IOW, 12 Step meetings done according to plan with strong, continuing group interaction and family support.
Thank you for sharing your personal experience!
That's very interesting that you perceive it differently. I don't have any personal experience with this, so I can't confirm or deny the effects of the Rat Park experiment, I just read about it and thought it was very interesting to share.
And you are right, of course there's much more to recovery than just a happy environment - but maybe it takes you one step closer than being lonely and depressed. In the end, it all depends on the person and maybe it can't be generalized that much.